


love is a game of courage

by ilovesungyeollie



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Fluff, I don't know what else to tag this, M/M, PanWink - Freeform, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 16:30:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14109435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilovesungyeollie/pseuds/ilovesungyeollie
Summary: Three times Jihoon gets baited to do a dare and the one time he actually carries it out.Or,Jihoon is the top student of his grade, constantly trying to prove his courage to his troublemaking friends, and has a crush on his junior Guanlin.Guanlin is the cheeky basketball centre who likes to play around with Jihoon, but ends up falling for him too.





	love is a game of courage

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [胆量游戏](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/366633) by unknown. 



> This story is a translation of a Chinese panwink story, with some minor changes/additions made by me to make it flow better in English. 
> 
> The original story can be found [here](https://i.imgur.com/Jrengps.jpg).

Park Jihoon was highly regretting his current situation. Out of all things, why did he have to agree to play some sort of daring game with his friends? But you couldn’t really blame Jihoon for accepting. Jihoon was a top student in his high school, the perfect role model in the eyes of teachers. However, as a boy at the age of eighteen, that age when everyone wanted to prove themselves as a man who could do anything, there was no way Jihoon could turn down the game.

 

So when Park Woojin and the other boys wiggled their eyebrows and asked if he dared to skip out on self study class that evening to go to the old gym at the back of the playing field, Jihoon had consented immediately.

 

“Wait, am I really going in alone?” Jihoon asked as he stood outside the old gym, slightly shocked.

 

“Of course, what else?” Woojin chirped with a smirk. “You agreed just then when we played scissors, paper, rock. Don’t tell me our baby Jihoon is scared now?”

 

For the first time in his life Jihoon realises how bad he is at scissors, paper, rock. Even playing with five people, he managed to lose on the first round. Jihoon rolls his eyes. 

 

_ I just have to go to the basketball court on the top level of the gym and take a selca. I-I’m not scared at all. _

 

“Geez, stop laughing you guys. I was just asking. I didn’t say I wasn’t going.”

 

“That’s what I’m talking about. I knew our Jihoon was brave! Brave enough to enter the haunted gym.” Woojin cheers.

 

“...” 

 

_ No one will think you’re mute if you don’t speak _ . Jihoon thinks with a huff as he walks into the old gym. Although he gulps as he disappears, he leaves his friends with a view of his confident back.

 

-

 

Jihoon didn’t believe that being a top student automatically meant he was a scaredy cat. That was completely a stereotype. Following the rules and completing all his homework and quizzes was simply something he was supposed to do. He didn’t want to get himself in trouble or inconvenience his teachers and parents. 

 

Besides being a top student, Jihoon was also quite popular in school. The girls all loved to talk about the handsome and smart senior, while the boys regularly invited him to play ball to relieve stress. But whenever he was hanging out with his close buddies, they always pinned him as a scaredy cat which made Jihoon feel wronged. As a result Jihoon, who never skips class, had decided to use this opportunity to prove himself and make his friends shut up about him being a chicken.

 

Jihoon shudders as he makes his way up the gym levels.  _ Why is this place so gloomy though?  _ It’s the only the beginning of autumn but it already feels so cold. Jihoon lets out a small breath of relief as he reaches level two and just sees the lights out. Nothing scary. But then he sees the lights in the volleyball court flash eerily and Jihoon stiffens. Without looking back Jihoon hurriedly goes up the final level and beelines for the basketball court.

 

The door to the court was open, luckily, and Jihoon pushes it open softy. He’s surprised to see a flash of light in the otherwise dark room. The light is coming from a corner opposite Jihoon, too far for him to see anything but a dark shadow. 

 

_ Should I run now? _ Jihoon thinks as his eyes dart around the room and his heart speeds up.  _ I don’t want to get killed by a ghost but if I leave now then Woojin and the others are never going to let this go. _

 

As Jihoon contemplates his two choices, he slowly makes his way towards the flame of light and unidentified dark shadow. He pulls his phone out to light his path and he tries his best to not look scared.

 

Once Jihoon draws closer, he realises the shadow is actually a person sitting on the bleachers. The light came from the cigarette the boy was currently smoking. Getting within metres of the boy, Jihoon recognises him as Lai Guanlin, who was in the grade below him.

 

“Oh, I’ve been caught.” Guanlin says without the slightest bit of panic when he catches sight of Jihoon watching him.

 

Instead Guanlin laughs and blows smoke into Jihoon’s face. “Are you going to tell on me, sunbae?”

 

Jihoon, who was not used cigarette smoke, coughs as it went through his nose. He furrowed his eyebrows as he spoke.

 

“How come you’re here?”

 

Jihoon and Guanlin actually didn’t know each other. They’ve heard of the other before but that’s about it. One of them a sunbae due to graduate at the end of the year and the other the centre of the basketball team. Jihoon’s heard teachers talk about Guanlin before; he never gets into trouble and is an obedient kid. However that image greatly contrasted with what Jihoon saw before him, which was a cheeky bad boy who was secretly smoking a cigarette.

 

Jihoon hesitates as he stands there. He is currently a prefect and it is in his duty to report to teachers this sort of behaviour. However Jihoon decides he’ll let Guanlin go this time. After all, Jihoon himself was here because he had skipped class and he didn’t want to out himself. 

 

Not to mention, Jihoon had always been kind of interested in Guanlin. He had purposely chosen the window seat this year in class so he could watch the basketball team practice every Friday afternoon.

 

Clearing his throat, Jihoon stops his line of thought before he could turn into a blushing mess.

 

“I’ll let you pass this time. You should stop hiding here to smoke though.”

 

Guanlin scoffs. “If I don’t smoke here, where should I go? There are teachers watching inside the classroom buildings and on the field.”

 

Jihoon doesn’t know how to respond to that. This was the first time he had ever spoken to Guanlin, and it just had to be in this sort of situation. He didn’t want it to get awkward so Jihoon continues.

 

“Just… Just don’t smoke in the future. Students aren’t supposed to be smoking. Uh I-I’ll be going now.”

 

Before Jihoon could dash out, Guanlin grabs Jihoon’s wrist and pulls him back. Taken off guard, Jihoon stumbles forward and hits Guanlin’s chest, leaving only a few centimetres between their faces. Jihoon thanks the skies that it was dark in the court, because his face was turning a bright shade of red.

 

“I won’t say anything. Don’t worry.”

 

Jihoon breathes out and he’s surprised his voice didn’t waver, given that his heart felt like it was going to jump out of his chest.

 

“I don’t believe you.” 

 

Guanlin’s breath hits Jihoon’s forehead, making a few strands of his hair fly up. Jihoon suppresses a shiver.

 

After those words leave his mouth, Guanlin takes another pull from his cigarette before dropping it to the ground and snuffing it with his shoes. With his now free hand, Guanlin moves it to Jihoon’s cheeks and squeezes them, forcing Jihoon’s mouth open. Before Jihoon could even react, Guanlin’s lips ghosted across his own as he blew smoke into Jihoon’s mouth and in the next moment a blinding flash goes off.

 

Once Jihoon had gotten his bearings back, coughing from the smoke, he sees Guanlin waving his phone around and showing the photo he just took. In it, Jihoon was surrounded by smoke and it clearly looked like he had been smoking.

 

“You!”

 

Jihoon shouts indignantly. He couldn’t believe this boy.

 

“Don’t get angry, sunbae. This way I can make sure you won’t tell anyone.” Guanlin says with a smirk, stuffing his phone away and letting Jihoon go.

 

“Lai Guanlin, you are too much!”

 

Guanlin continues to smirk, mouth twitching. “You have soft lips.”

 

Jihoon is left speechless and he curses as he blushes once more before turning and making a run for it. He doesn’t look back, leaving Guanlin to smile in amusement at his exit.

 

-

 

Ultimately, Jihoon forgot to take a selca at the old gym but he couldn’t tell his friends that instead of seeing ghosts, he got taken advantage of by his junior. That afternoon’s events had shaken Jihoon up and he was still out of it the next day in the morning study class. Jihoon sat in his spot with no expression, eyes unseeing as he turned the pages of his textbook automatically. Woojin and the others sent him weird looks and kept bothering him but Jihoon just ignored them.

 

“Jihoonie,” Woojin called once again.

 

Jihoon didn’t stop what he was doing only snapping at his friend. “Shut up and read your textbook.”

 

“Jihoon, someone’s looking for you outside.”

 

Hearing that, Jihoon lifts his head up and sees none other but the guy who played with him yesterday. Jihoon purses his lips and exits his classroom docily. After all, the other had that photo of him.

 

“What?”

 

Guanlin has his hands in his pocket as he grins down at Jihoon who is half a head shorter than him.

 

“I wanted to see you, hyung.”

 

“...”

 

_ What is this? We’re not even close, so what’s with the hyung? _

 

“You don’t need to worry, I didn’t tell anyone. What do you really want?”

 

“Actually, since I have such good blackmail material, it’d be a waste if I only ask you to keep it a secret.” Guanlin says, eyes disappearing into crescents and smiling so wide his teeth showed.

 

If people saw them now, they’d think the two of them were close when actually it’s the opposite.

 

Jihoon grits his teeth and gives Guanlin a blank look. “So, what’s your condition?”

 

“How about you come watch me practice basketball every Friday afternoon?”

 

Jihoon sighs. He doesn’t dare to refuse but then he’ll have to skip class again.

 

“Seems like sunbae doesn’t want to do it.” Guanlin says with a pout, suddenly acting like Jihoon was being mean to him as he pulls his phone out.

 

Jihoon puts his hand on top of Guanlin’s phone in a rush as he forces out a smile. 

 

“No don’t. I do. I want to.”

 

-

 

The sun beat strongly down on the open field and by the time Jihoon arrived at the basketball courts, the team had already started practice. It was the first time Jihoon skipped out on an actual lesson and it was a bit hard as he had to hide from Woojin and Daehwi’s gossip group, also known as his friends. 

 

Jihoon plopped down on a bench by the side of the court and panted as he tried to catch his breath. The players who weren’t on court saw Jihoon and they all knew he was here to watch Guanlin. As respectful juniors, they came over and bowed, giving Jihoon a bottle of water and telling him that Guanlin would be off in ten minutes.

 

Jihoon nods as he takes the water, gulping half of it down in one go. He thinks about how he should act later with Guanlin in order for it to not seem weird. Jihoon was pulled out of his thoughts as the players on court came over for a quick break.

 

Guanlin slipped past the group of people, brushing off a group of girls offering him sports drinks, and came straight to Jihoon. He took the bottle of water Jihoon was holding and downs the remaining half of the bottle.

 

“Hey! That’s my water.”

 

Jihoon gapes as he whisper shouts, so as not to draw attention. He tried to stop Guanlin by pulling on his sweat soaked basketball jersey but to no avail.

 

“It’s fine. I don’t mind.” Guanlin replies, shooting him a wink.

 

Jihoon is once again left flabbergasted, unable to respond. His face is red as he watches Guanlin return to the court. 

 

_ Wasn’t that an indirect kiss?  _

 

_ Wow, the sun is really hot. My face is getting burned. _

 

-

 

Like that, every Friday Jihoon would skip class to hand water and fan Guanlin at his basketball practice. Everything was normal, completely normal. If you excluded the times when Guanlin would chuck his dirty basketball jersey on Jihoon’s head, forcing him to take a shower as well. Or the times when Guanlin would trap Jihoon against the lockers and brush their noses together, causing Jihoon to turn a lovely shade of pink. Or the times when Guanlin would walk past Jihoon and sneakily pinch his butt. 

 

Besides all that, everything was just peachy. And it really made Jihoon feel like he was acting in some sappy, teenage romance drama with Guanlin.

 

The hormones that came with puberty and growing up could not be overpowered by schoolwork and study. As such, during the end of semester, the representative rebel Park Woojin, began gathering his friends again to do something. This time he dared Jihoon to go to the bar just across the street from school to pick up girls. Woojin told Jihoon this was his chance to redeem himself and prove his guts after failing the dare at the gym last time.

 

Once again Jihoon falls prey to this sort of provocation and without thinking agrees. As he enters the bar he cringes at the too loud music, flashing lights and moving bodies. This being the first time Jihoon has ever visited a bar, he hides behind Woojin as the latter leads the way.

 

“Oh, your little hoobae is here too.” 

 

Woojin exclaims and points towards a booth at the side of the room. Jihoon follows Woojin’s finger and indeed, there sits Lai Guanlin.

 

Guanlin is sitting there looking quite at home, face filled with smiles and laughter while he drinks with the boys. There’s a girl sitting next Guanlin and he’s got one arm wrapped securely around her waist. Jihoon’s eyes narrows and feels a weird feeling rise in his chest.

 

“Let’s go join them since we all know each other.”  With that Woojin pulls Jihoon over to Guanlin’s table.

 

As soon as Jihoon sits down, he feels Guanlin’s eyes on him. Jihoon tries to ignore the other and instead focuses on drinking his ice tea through a straw, stiff and uncomfortable. Guanlin continues to watch him for a little longer before finally speaking up.

 

“How come Jihoon-sunbae is visiting a bar today? Don’t you need to study?”

 

Jihoon saw Guanlin’s lips move but did not hear a single word above the loud beating music. 

 

“What? I can’t hear you!”

 

Guanlin doesn’t repeat himself, but rises from his seat and squishes past Woojin to sit next to Jihoon. 

 

“I said, what are you doing here?”

 

Faced with his crush, Jihoon couldn’t say he was here to prove himself to his friends by picking up girls. Guanlin loved to tease him, so he would never hear the end of it. Ultimately Jihoon chose to give a shrug and mumble vaguely about accompanying Woojin and Daehwi.

 

-

 

Three rounds of drinks later, Woojin finally remembers why he was at the bar in the first place. He picks up an empty glass and metal fruit skewer and hits them together to get everyone’s attention.

 

“Everybody! How about we play a game of dare.”

 

As he says this, Woojin sends Jihoon a look. Jihoon rolls his eyes and returns the look with one of his own. Guanlin sees the exchange and raises an eyebrow, but remains silent.

 

Everyone readily agrees and soon enough it gets noisy as everyone was excited and slightly tipsy. A few rounds later, Jihoon realises Guanlin must suck at playing cards because he was losing to Woojin every time and taking the dares of downing shots left, right and centre.

 

“Okay, this time whoever has seven of hearts and two of spades need to kiss for one minute with a card between their lips!” 

 

Woojin smirks as he finishes his dare. He knew Jihoon had the seven of hearts because he saw it when Daehwi was giving out the cards. 

 

_ My Jihoonie, you can’t say I didn’t give you an opportunity now. _

 

What Woojin didn’t know was that the random card he picked, two of spades, wasn’t in a girl’s hand but in Guanlin’s hands.

 

-

 

The moment Jihoon realised it was him and Guanlin that held the two cards, his brain immediately short circuited. So the way Guanlin rested one hand behind his head, the way he placed a card on his lips, the way Guanlin tilted his head and kissed him through the card; none of that registered in Jihoon’s mind.

 

By the time Jihoon’s soul returned to his body, the people around him were all screaming and shouting, and it was already 43 seconds into the kiss. Jihoon looks across from him and is met with Guanlin’s dark and piercing gaze. Guanlin’s gaze is intense and Jihoon feels like the younger can see right through him. With a jolt Jihoon moves and the card between them falls, causing their lips to meet for real.

 

Their friends’ cheering intensifies and Jihoon feels his cheeks burning. Mortified, Jihoon pushes Guanlin away and wipes his lips on his sleeve.

 

Without speaking, Guanlin grabs Jihoon’s hand and pulls him up, striding out of the bar.

 

Woojin watches the two of them go before lifting his glass up to continue drinking.

 

“Jihoon came here to pick up girls but who knew he would pick up Lai Guanlin instead.”

 

-

 

The back door of the bar exits into a dim alleyway that is hidden from the main path and is the perfect place for couples to have some fun. As the pair stumble out, Guanlin pushes Jihoon against the rough brick wall, using his body to keep pin him there. Without giving Jihoon a chance to question him, Guanlin closes the distance between them and crashes their lips together. Jihoon lets out a gasp but closes his eyes. He feels Guanlin’s tongue swirl into his mouth and Jihoon’s legs go weak. Whimpering, Jihoon’s hands grip onto Guanlin’s arms to keep himself upright. It’s a sudden and intense kiss and Jihoon had not prepared himself for this. Guanlin’s body is warm against his, his tongue doing wonders, and Jihoon feels lightheaded and drunk even though he didn’t take a sip of alcohol earlier. 

 

When Jihoon feels like he might actually pass out from lack of breath and the explosive emotions in his chest, he taps Guanlin on the chest and pushes him slightly. Guanlin moves back immediately, although still staying in Jihoon’s personal space, and stares at him questioningly.

 

Jihoon still feels like he is floating on the clouds and his breath is coming out in pants but he there was something he desperately needed to know.

 

“Guanlin, do you like me?”

 

What answers Jihoon is a long silence. After hearing the question, Guanlin immediately closes his mouth and furrows his eyebrows. He then opens and closes his mouth multiple times, as if he doesn’t know how he should respond. 

 

The longer Guanlin doesn’t reply, the more Jihoon feels embarrassment settle in. Of course, what was he thinking? Why would Guanlin like him? He was just someone Guanlin liked to play around with, his sunbae.

 

With a, hopefully, nonchalant laugh, Jihoon breaks the silence.

 

“Don’t sweat it Guanlin. I was just joking. Before we came Woojin dared me to find someone to confess to. That’s all.”

 

“Jihoon…”

 

Jihoon doesn’t stay to hear what Guanlin has to say, instead choosing to slip out and make his way to the exit of the alley.

 

“That’s hyung to you. You should go back and have fun. I’ll be leaving first, this isn’t my kind of scene.”

 

Lifting his hand in a short wave, Jihoon disappears, not once looking back at Guanlin.

 

-

 

As soon as he arrives at school the next day, Gualin goes straight to the top level of the building where all the senior classes were. He wanted to find Jihoon, but was stopped at the bottom of the stairs by Woojin. Usually Woojin was very easy going, all smiles and jokes, but today he had a stern expression and refused to let Guanlin go up. Guanlin tried to persuade the other, even pulling out some aegyo, but Woojin did not relent. Not wanting to cause a scene with his senior, Guanlin ended up leaving in defeat.

 

The same cycle repeated for the next two weeks until it was time for end of semester exams, when Guanlin was too busy, focusing on his studies instead.

 

The second semester of the school year rolled around and the seniors entered a serious, study intensive mindset. They would be taking their university entrance exams at the end of semester so everyone was very focused. The seniors didn’t have sports class or free periods anymore, arrived at school early and left very late. With this schedule, Guanlin hardly caught a glimpse of Jihoon and eventually lost his vigour to find Jihoon. He figured he’d let Jihoon prepare and pass his university exam in peace and seek him out afterwards.

 

However, as soon as the exams were over, Jihoon seemingly evaporated into thin air. He just disappeared without leaving a single trace. Guanlin ended up convincing Daehwi to ask Woojin about Jihoon and finally learnt that Jihoon had applied for a university in the north, going there immediately after exams were over.

 

Guanlin wasn’t the type to be desperate and hung up about love and so didn’t try to look for Jihoon any further. He settled down and started his final year in school, becoming a senior for the younger students. Guanlin put his mind and time to studying hard and only occasionally went to the old gym building to have a smoke and stopped going to the bar altogether. It was as if Jihoon was just a passing dream and now Guanlin had woken up to continue with his life.

 

-

 

The next time Jihoon returned to his old high school was one year later, after all the seniors had left to the exam venue for their university entrance exams. Jihoon admits it was because he knew Guanlin wasn’t there that he had the courage to come back. That day at the bar, when Jihoon had blurted out that question without thinking, was one of the most embarrassing moments in his life. Despite a year passing, Jihoon still couldn’t live it down. Just the thought of facing Guanlin again made Jihoon cringe and his cheeks flame.

 

Unknowingly as Jihoon walked around his old school, his feet took him to the old gym where he first met Guanlin. Back then it was so dark in the gym Jihoon thought Guanlin was the ghost that was haunting the building. Jihoon chuckles to himself and makes his way to the bench where Guanlin used to sit to smoke. Sitting in the same spot, Jihoon notices some words written on the wall besides him. Jihoon squints and bends closer to read the words which had been written roughly in a black ballpoint pen.

 

_ Park Jihoon, you scaredy cat.  _

 

The ‘scaredy cat’ part had be struck through with a few lines and replaced with a fat heart but was still readable. Jihoon scoffs. It was obviously Guanlin’s doing; cheeky and immature as usual.

 

-

 

_ Who says he was a scaredy cat? _

 

Twenty minutes later, Jihoon was waiting outside the university entrance exam venue, standing with the students’ anxious parents. 

 

Guanlin had long legs and long arms which allowed him to stand out against the crowd of students pouring out the venue. And with his serious, expressionless face, Guanlin looked all the more dashing.

 

“Lai Guanlin! Get over here!” 

 

Jihoon shouts at the top of his lungs from the outside of the throng of people, unable to get any closer amidst the excited parents.

 

Guanlin is shocked to say the least. He definitely did not expect to see the guy he had been longing for over a year in this sort of situation. In a daze, he makes his way over to where Jihoon is standing.

 

“Jihoon-hyung?”

 

“Who the heck are you calling a scaredy cat?”

 

Jihoon says as he runs into Guanlin’s chest, wrapping his arms around the younger’s waist. 

 

“...You saw it?”

 

Guanlin asks, still a bit dazed. But then he snaps out of it and starts laughing, lifting his arms to return Jihoon’s embrace. His eyes disappear into crescents, looking down at Jihoon.

 

“I was saying I was the scaredy cat. Hyung, you want to play the dare game with me?”

  
  
  
  
  


 

 

 

 

 

“Who’s playing games with you. I want to date you.”

 


End file.
